Who will be unbeaten, winless the longest?

The Packers have begun the 2011 season the way they ended the 2010 season — as the best team in football.

They should put together the longest winning streak at the start of the season. They already survived two of the most difficult games on their schedule, beating the Saints on opening night and taking it to the Bears on the road.

The Colts have a few games in their near future against teams with losing records, so they will have a chance to get a win. But this team has no idea how to win without Peyton Manning, and the chances are good they will be winless longer than any other team. Hearing Manning may be out for the season might drain the life and fight from this team even more.

The Packers look unstoppable, with major contributors on offense who barely played last year because of injury (Jermichael Finley and Ryan Grant). Three hurdles stand out: Week 9 in San Diego, Thanksgiving in Detroit for their third game in 10 days and the week after that in the Meadowlands against the Giants.

Of course, the uber-athletic Lions also could be unbeaten when Turkey Day rolls around, but the Packers are still the class of the NFL.

On the other side, none of the winless teams has a brutal schedule upcoming. The Chiefs look like the worst team, but they have the 0-3 Vikings at home and visit the 0-3 Colts in consecutive weeks. The Chiefs are the choice.

The Packers will stay unbeaten the longest. Even with some tough games coming up — Week 5 in Atlanta and Week 9 in San Diego — the Packers will have a slightly easier go of it than the Bills and Lions.

The Bills and Lions have had to dig themselves out of deep holes in games, too, and if that continues, they won't be able to do that every week.

As for the team that will stay winless the longest, the Colts are in the best position for that. They have two softer games coming up — Week 5 against the Chiefs and Week 6 in Cincinnati — but with the way Curtis Painter was firing bounce passes to his receivers against the Steelers, neither of those games looks particularly winnable.

I don't think the Bills and Redskins are for real, so I'll say the Packers will remain unbeaten the longest, although they have to go to Atlanta in Week 5 for a Sunday night game. The Packers look tough to beat right now. They went into Chicago on Sunday and handled the Bears with ease. I don't see them stumbling too much this season.

The Chiefs, Vikings and Colts could help each other out over the next two weeks, so I'll say the Rams are going to go the longest without a win. They looked pitiful at home against the Ravens on Sunday, and they face a surging Redskins team in Week 4 before an open date, followed by the Packers. Maybe the Rams will beat the Cardinals in Week 9 or the Browns in Week 10.